Three Chords And The Truth
by RossAndRachelForever10
Summary: This is based on the song Three Chords and The Truth by Sara Evans. Takes place at the end of Season 6.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Oh how I wish this is what really happened at the end of season 6. Seriously someone needs to rewrite all of seasons 6 and 7 because they just weren't as great! **

As Lorelai walked away from Luke to her Jeep she couldn't help but keep thinking about what he said. How could he choose his daughter over her? Yes April was an important part of his life now but she was too. She felt the first tear slide down her face and quickly wiped it away. She didn't want anyone to see her crying. She got into her Jeep and started driving. She had no idea where she was going, all she knew was that she was going. She was on the highway when she decided to turn on her radio because the silence made her keep thinking about the recent fight with Luke. When she turned the radio on, it was to a country station. She didn't normally listen to country but she had found a few months earlier that there were actually country songs that she could relate to. So she was surprised when the DJ said there was an old song coming on the radio.

_On a highway bound for nowhere _

_I ran my fingers through my tangled hair _

_As I pulled in for another tank of freedom_

_With a hundred miles behind me and a million more to go_

_I was tryin' to put some distance between us_

_I turned on the radio and a voice came over sweet and low_

_And I didn't know the tears were gonna start_

_What amazed me even more is I'd never heard the song before _

_But somehow I knew each word by heart_

_Funny, this is like what I'm doing, _she thought as she pulled into a deserted gas station. She stopped the car but didn't turn the engine off. She needed to hear the rest of the song. In a way she was bound for nowhere and she needed to put some distance between her and Luke. She decided that she'd drive until she found an inn to stay at just for the night. She didn't need to be gone too long, because everyone would worry and it wouldn't really be fair to Paul Anka if mommy was gone too long. She leaned back in her seat and listened to the song and as she listened the tears started falling more.

_And I don't know why, I don't know how_

_But with his song he turned my life and this old car around_

_Just when I thought I was over you _

_He changed my mind with three chords and the truth_

_Found a pay phone at a truck stop_

_Said a prayer as the quater dropped _

_Oh, please be home, I know that I was wrong_

_Honey, don't talk, just listen_

_I think I found what I was missin'_

_In a song I heard tongiht on the radio_

Lorelai listened as the singer sang the chorus again and then the song ended. She got out of the car and started filling the Jeep up with gas. She looked around at her surrondings. Then in the distance she saw a pay phone. She quickly grabbed some money and as soon as the tank was full she went to the pay phone and dialed that all too familiar number. It rang four times and finally Luke answered. "Luke, don't say anything okay?" Lorelai told him. "But I was wrong to walk away from you like that tonight. I just-I lost it back there. I thought I was going to lose you again and I didn't want that. But I was driving and I heard this song on the radio and it made me realize that what I need to do is talk to you about how I've been feeling all these months." She told him she'd be back soon and after she hung up she got into the Jeep and turned it around to drive back to Stars Hollow. She and Luke needed to spend some days talking, well she needed to do the talking but hopefully this would help them get back on track and finally plan a future together.


	2. Chapter 2

When Lorelai got back to Stars Hollow the first place she headed was to her house to check on Paul Anka and change clothes and wash her face. She knew she had cried her mascara and the rest of her makeup off that night. She decided she needed to buy some waterproof mascara the first chance she got. After feeding Paul Anka she headed to the diner. At Luke's apartment door she hesitated before knocking. What if he had changed his mind and didn't want to talk to her? Before she let her mind talk her out of what she was about to do she knocked on his door. A minute later Luke opened the door. "Hi," she said nervously.

"Hey," he told her, holding the door open and letting her in.

She came in and sat down at the table and Luke sat down next to her. She made herself look at him. "I think we need to talk," she began.

"Yeah, we do," he agreed. "I want to know what made you decide that we had to elope now." Luke was trying to remain calm because he didn't want to get into another fight with her. But he couldn't understand why she thought they had to elope now and not wait until he had gotten to know April better. He was still trying to get used to having a daughter after all.

"You want to know?" she asked him. "You made me do that! You've been shutting out and I was going crazy! Did you even realize that we haven't made love since we were in Martha's Vineyard? I just had enough of being shut out! I thought you knew me so well." She hung her head willing herself not to cry again.

"I do know you," he protested. How could she sit there and say that she thought he knew her. Of course he knew her. He knew everything about her. He knew what made her laugh and made her cry. He even knew every little annoying quirk she had. Like that she had to have a cup of coffee the minute she woke up or that she liked to sleep on the left side of the bed at night.

Lorelai shook her head. "No, Luke, you don't. If you knew me, you would have noticed that I was hurting. I tried not to let it show and act like it didn't bother me that everyone else in town got to know April before I even I met her. Do you know how much that hurt Luke? At Lane's wedding I told everyone to just forget about June third because it was never going to happen."

Luke was confused. "But Patty said you sang a song," he said.

"That was so you wouldn't find out about what I had said!" said Lorelai. "Luke why can't you see that I'm hurting? You always noticed when something was wrong. And these past few months you haven't even noticed."

"I've been busy with April," stated Luke, as if that was obvious.

"Oh, right, you're busy with April," said Lorelai. "You're always spending time with her, Luke! What about me?"

"She's my daughter," Luke argued back. "I need to get to know her!"

"When am I going to meet her?" Lorelai shot back. She was tired of all the pain he was causing her and wanted it over. "I'm going to be her stepmother when we get married! If we eveng get married."

Luke was hurt when he heard that. How could she not think they weren't getting married. They'd only postponed the wedding for a little while. "We are getting married. You know that."

"When Luke? When are we getting married?" she asked trying not to cry. She thought it was almost impossible to cry anymore now. "When we postponed the wedding I thought we'd choose another date but we haven't!"

Luke sighed. She was right. They never picked another date to have their wedding and now it could be too late. He couldn't bear to lose her again and if he didn't do something to prove how much he still loved her he might lose her forever. "Okay, what we're going to do first is choose a new date to get married," he told her. "We can do that tonight right now or in the morning. Just as long as it gets done. Then I'm going to talk to Anna and tell her that since you're going to be in my life more you need to get to know April. And then we'll plan our wedding."

Lorelai looked at him. "Luke, it's not that simple. We still have a million other things to talk about and work on. Like the reason why you won't let me meet April. And why you've been shutting me out."

"Right," said Luke. "I forgot about that. So what do you want to talk about first?"

Lorelai thought for a minute and went with the most important. "Why won't you let me meet April?" she finally asked him. She looked at him while he thought about his answer.

"I guess I'm afraid she'll decide that she likes you more and won't want to get to know me," he finally answered. That was the number one reason why he wouldn't let Lorelai meet April and he knew now that it had been crazy to think that.

"Luke, that would never happen," she told him. "It's possible that she'll think I'm fun and cool like Rory did when she was that age. But you're her father. She'll want to be around you and maybe sometimes she'll want me around too. We'll just have to give it a chance and see what happens."

Luke nodded his head. "Okay, I'll talk to Anna tomorrow. You wanted to know why I've been shutting you out? To be honest I didn't realize I was doing that. It must have been because I was trying to get to know April better. I missed out on the first twelve years of her life Lorelai! I felt like Christopher!"

Lorelai moved so she she was sitting next to Luke. "Luke, you could never be like Chris. You're so much different than him and that's why I love you. Why I will always love you. It's not your fault that you missed out on the first twelve years of April's life. I have a feeling that if Anna had told you she was pregnant you would have been involved from day one. Chris was never involved. He was around yes, but he didn't go to my doctor's appointments with me and he wasn't there when Rory was born. He did come later that day to see her but after that he and I hardly saw each other. I think you would make a great father to one lucky baby one day."

Luke smiled a little bit. "You think so?" he asked. "You don't think I'm like Christopher at all?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed. "You should never, ever think that you're like him."

Then it registerd to Luke that Lorelai had said something about a baby. "Did you say something about a baby?" he asked her.

"Yes but I said you'd be a great father to one," she told him. "I'm not pregnant. But just so you know, I really want a baby and I want it with you."

Luke really smiled then. "I want a baby too," he told her. He pulled her into his lap. "When do you want to start trying?"

"Would now be good?" she asked. "And make sure you try for a boy. You need a son. Us girls have you outnumbered."

"Now would be good," he agreed kissing her. "So fight over?"

Lorelai giggled and nodded. "Yes, our fight is over." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Later when they were laying in bed together going to sleep Lorelai was really happy that they had made up. They were getting back to the beginning before everything went wrong. She knew they still had a lot of things to talk about and work on but this was a good start to get back on track.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So here it is...Chapter three! I know it's been too long. But school is almost over...yay!...and then I'll have more time for a few weeks. Hope you enjoy this chapter while I try and update my other stories. Read and Review please!**

The next morning Luke woke up early. Of course he was used to waking up early now. He'd been doing it for fifteen years. Since he was up he took a quick shower and then he decided he'd make Lorelai breakfast. He had never made her breakfast before. Well he had, but that was the diner's breakfast. Not once had he ever cooked her anything for breakfast that wasn't diner food. He had made a mixture for stuffed french toast the night before. He set the oven to 375 degrees, stuck the pan in the oven and set the timer for forty-five minutes. Luke decided he should call Anna later and tell her about Lorelai. She needed to know that not only was Lorelai in his life, but that Lorelai was going to be in his life for good which meant that he needed Anna's approval to let April officially meet Lorelai.

Luke hated himself for how he had been treating Lorelai the past few months. The thing was he didn't realize he was doing just that. That could have been because he hardly saw Lorelai as much as he used to. Again, that was his doing. He would tell her when April would be coming by and she'd come in before April would arrive and eat and then he wouldn't see her until after April would leave. How he never realized what he was doing he didn't know. He did know that from now on he would make sure Lorelai was involved in April's life. He made the biggest mistake in his relationship with Lorelai when he didn't tell her about his daughter the moment he found out. He got out the coffee he kept just for Lorelai and made a pot of coffee.

Lorelai woke up to the smell of food cooking and fresh made coffee. She pulled on the clothes she had on the night before and walked into the kitchen where she found Luke taking a pan out of the oven. "Hi," she said to him sitting down at the table.

"Oh, hey," he greeted when he turned around. "Let me guess, the coffee woke you up didn't it?"

Lorelai smiled. "How'd you know?" she teased. "Yes, it did. That and the smell of whatever is in that pan."

"It's stuffed french toast," he replied grabbing some plates from the cabinet and some silverware. He set everything on the table and then set the pan on the table. "You want some coffee?"

"Have you forgotten everything you know about me?" she asked. "Of course I want coffee. And I'll get it myself. I do know where you keep the coffee cups. Unless you changed everything."

"Nope, everything is still where it should be," he said.

After pouring a cup of coffee Lorelai sat down across from Luke and started eating. She had barely eaten in days maybe weeks and was starving. "So what are you doing today?" she asked him.

Luke thought for a minute. "I'm gonna call Anna," he told. He decided from now he would be honest with her and not keep secrets from her. "I want you to officially meet April. Either tonight or tomorrow night. We can have dinner here. Or if you'd prefer, we can have dinner at your house."

Lorelai chewed her food thoughtfully. "I think that would be nice. Are you going to mention that I'll be in your life permanently when you talk to Anna?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna mention it," he replied.

"Good," she answered taking another bite. "This is really good. You'll have to make it when Rory comes home."

Luke smiled glad she liked the food. "You think she'll like it?" he asked.

"Of course she will."

"You're right, don't know what I was thinking."

They ate in silence and when they were done Luke put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Lorelai sat at the table drinking a second cup of coffee. Luke came back to the table. "So I guess we still have a lot of talking to do, don't we?" he asked her.

"Yeah, we do," she answered. She was silent for a minuted and then she asked a question that had been bothering her for a while. Actually there were a dozen questions she wanted to ask him and she planned on asking every one of them. "What I want to know is why you would tell your sister about April right after you found out. Why didn't you come tell me? You know I would have been supportive of this whole thing."

"You talked to Liz?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, I talked to her. I was confused and upset about everything that's been going on. Actually I'm still confused, but not as upset. So why'd you tell her and not me?"

Luke thought for a minute. "Maybe because she's known Anna as long as I have. It was just easier to tell her then. I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you first. I'll always regret that now."

Lorelai nodded taking in his answer. In a way it made sense but she wished he had told her first. "Did you ever plan on telling me right after you found out? Or were you just going to keep April away from me and hope I never found out? Which would have been pointless since we live in a small town."

"I did plan to tell you right after," he explained. "But when I came over that night you came down in your wedding dress and I couldn't bear to tell you. And I wanted to tell you at Thanksgiving but I just couldn't."

Lorelai remembered both those events very well. "You still could have told me though," she answered.

"Yeah, I know and I really should have," he told her.

"I guess I feel a little better knowing you wanted to tell me," replied Lorelai. Lorelai took a deep breath. She needed another questioned answered but was afraid to ask it. "Luke, why did you postpone the wedding? Didn't you see how sad that made me? And then you promised me that we'd elope and it never happened. You promised!" That was the question that would make her cry whenever she thought about it and as soon as she said it she started crying. She swiped at the tears but couldn't stop crying.

Luke hated seeing Lorelai cry but he hated it even more knowing he was the reason she was crying. The only other time she had cried in front of him, besides last night of course, was when she had asked him to dinner that one time. She had been in the process of building the Dragonfly and had needed some money to finish. He went around to her side of the table and pulled her into his arms. "I am so sorry. I can't say it enough. It hurt me too, when I postponed our wedding. After spending so much time with April, I never realized that it hurt you too. And I know I keep saying this, but I am really and truly sorry."

Lorelai nodded her head. She knew he was sorry. She could even tell that he was sorry when she looked at him. Still it hurt that they weren't going to get married on June third. "I know you're sorry. You don't need to keep telling me that." She pulled away and dried her eyes. "That's all I needed to really know. I just had about a million questions I had to ask you."

"It's okay," he assured her. "I understand. And I am sorry for keeping you away. That was not what I wanted. How about tonight we look at a calendar and pick a new wedding date? I promise this time we will get married on that new date."

Lorelai smiled at him. "That would be nice." She gathered what things she had brought with her. "I need to get home. You know, shower, get ready for work, check on Paul Anka. He's probably worried about his mommy."

"Yeah, and I should go ahead call Anna," agreed Luke. "Wait a minute, Paul Anka is a dog. Why in the world would he be worried about you? He probably doesn't even realize that you're gone. Dogs have short attention spans. I'm sure he forgot that you even left last night."

"Oh, no, he will definitely realize I'm gone when he runs out of food and water. He'll be so worried he'll probably call Rory or Sookie," said Lorelai.

"I'm not even going to say anything to that," replied Luke.

"I gotta go," she said again. She gave him a quick and left for home.

After she left Luke decided that before going down to work he would call Anna. He wanted to get that out of the way first. He grabbed the phone and punched in the familiar numbers. It rang twice and then he heard Anna say, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Luke."

Anna was silent for a minute wondering what he wanted. "Luke if you're calling to say you can't take April this weekend then I won't let you see her anymore."

Luke got angry at that. She always said that to him and it drove him crazy. He took a couple deep breaths before answering. "No, I can take her. I actually wanted to talk to you about Lorelai."

"What about her?" she asked.

"I want April to meet her. After all, I kept them apart for five months so really it's about time they met. Besides Lorelai and I are getting married soon," answered Luke.

"Luke, I'm not going to let my kid meet some woman I barely know. What if she gets attached and you and this woman break up? What then? And didn't April already meet her once at her birthday party? Which, by the, way, I'm still not happy about. You weren't even there!" accused Anna.

"I was at the party. And yes they did meet then, but I want them to get to know each other. Lorelai and I aren't going to break up so she's in my life from now on. I understand that you don't want April meeting Lorelai because you barely know her. To tell you the truth, you and Lorelai have quite a bit in common."

Anna seemed interested in that fact. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're both single mothers. April even reminds of Lorelai's daughter Rory."

"That's nice, Luke," she replied. "Look, I'll think it over. When I bring April by at noon I'll let you know if I'm okay with April meeting Lorelai."

"That's all I ask for," said Luke. "See you at noon."

"Bye," she said before hanging up.

Luke thought that conversation went well. He even managed to not start yelling at Anna which was good. Before going down to the diner, he called Lorelai and let her know that April would be there around noon and invited her to have lunch so she could finally meet his daughter. He knew it was time and to him now was perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

When Lorelai got home that morning the first thing she did was feed Paul Anka and give him some fresh water. She quickly took a shower and got ready for work. On her way out the door she realized that she had messages on her answering machine. Clicking play she listened to them all. Rory had called saying she was worried and for Lorelai to call her back as soon as possible. There was also one from Sookie, Luke, and even Christopher. Apparently Rory had called her father asking him if he had seen Lorelai and he had called to see if she was okay. As she walked to her Jeep she dialed Rory's number. Rory answered on the first ring. Rory was excited and relieved that her mother had finally called. Lorelai told Rory that she and Luke had finally talked and that she would be meeting April for real this time. Rory told her mother that she would be home later that afternoon and then they hung up.

A few minutes later, Lorelai walked into her inn. "Good morning, Michel," she greeted her friend.

Michel glared at her. He was upset that he had to do his job and her job these past few days because she had kept calling in sick. "It's good now that you're here," he told her.

"Michel, I'm sorry I had you do my job too," she told him apologizing. "But I promise I won't ever do that to you again."

"You better not," he said. He was quiet for a minute and then he added. "Sookie's looking for you. She's apparently worried about you."

Lorelai just nodded her head. She headed back to the kitchen where Sookie immediately hugged her. "Oh, you're here!" exclaimed Sooke. She quickly told her staff to disappear and then turned on Lorelai. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you! I called Rory and Luke last night! I called everyone in town!"

Lorelai went and poured a cup of coffee. "I was at Luke's last night," she answered.

"Yes, I heard about the fight you and Luke had," said Sookie. "What happened?"

"Yes, we had a fight. I got tired of waiting for him to reschedule the wedding and something in me snapped. But we had a talk last night about why he kept April from me and then again this morning."

"So you two are still together?"

"We're still together. We're picking out a new day for the wedding tonight and I'm officaially meeting April too." Lorelai looked down at the coffee cup in her hands. She really was happy she had given Luke a chance to explain everything and that she'd be meeting April that night when they would all have dinner at her house. But she had this feeling that she knew she didn't trust Luke one hundred percent. At least right now. She remembered the night when they decided to not keep secrets from each other. Ironically it was around the time Luke found out about April.

Sookie noticed the sad look on Lorelai's face and grew concerned. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked.

Lorelai sniffed. "I-I don't know," she lied. "Why didn't Luke trust me enough to tell me about April. Around the same time he found out about her we made a promise to not keep secrets from each other. Yet, he kept that a secret for almost two months. I found out about her when I went to the diner one afternoon and there she was filling salt and pepper shakers! I don't know I can ever trust him again." And with that Lorelai broke down crying for what seemed like the millionth time.

Sookie went over to her and wrapped her up in a hug. "Oh, Lorelai, it's not Luke's fault. You know how long it takes him to process things. I mean, it took him eight years to finally ask you out! He probably needed time to get used to the fact that he even had a daughter and then how to tell you without you freaking out!"

Lorelai opened her mouth to say something but Michel came in just then. "Your mother is on the phone," he told Lorelai.

"My mother?" questioned Lorelai. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," was all he said.

Lorelai walked out of the kitchen and back to the front desk. "Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking," she said.

"Lorelai it's your mother," said Emily.

"Hello, Mom. What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you and Luke want that house I showed you," said Emily. She and Richard had found a house in Stars Hollow that seemed perfect for Luke and Lorelai and they decided to buy it as a wedding present, or more accurately an engagement present since the wedding had been postponed.

Lorelai hesitated. In all the chaos she had forgotten about the house her parents had picked out for them. "Oh, I haven't told Luke about it yet," she admitted.

"You haven't? Why not?" demanded Emily.

"Because we've both had a lot going on. I finally told him how I've been feeling these past few months and we talked. I mean really talked. Mostly about April but we're making progress. I am going to tell him about the house. Is there any way we could schedule a time to take a look at the house?"

"Yes, I can call the realtor and set up a time for you and Luke to look at the house." Emily was silent for a minute. "I didn't realize you and Luke were having problems."

"Yes, but we're working on them," said Lorelai.

"Well, that's good," said Emily. "I need to go. We'll see you later, Lorelai."

After hanging up Lorelai went to her office. She just knew it was going to be a long day. She had a feeling that everyone in town knew about the fight and would ask her about it. That was one thing she hated about this town. Everyone knowing what was going on in everyone's lives. She got to work so Michel wouldn't complain and counted the minutes until she could go to Luke's for lunch.

~XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX~

Luke was working when Anna dropped April off. Anna told him that she agreed to let April meet Lorelai. She wasn't thrilled with the idea but she figured that Luke had the right to let his daughter meet his fiance. She also decided that Luke could make his own decisions concerning April without asking her. But that was for when April stayed with him. Luke was glad that Anna was getting used to the idea of him being around. This way he could prove to her that he was a good father. He had to admit that Lorelai was right. He shouldn't compare himself to Rory's father. Christopher had a choice to be involved since day one but he blew it. Luke, however, never got that choice until recently when April came into his diner one November day. Right now April was upstairs unpacking and the diner was empty. He was going through the cash register and had just made a fresh pot of coffee when he heard the bells above the door jingle signaling a customer. He smiled when he heard her voice.

"Okay, it's been a very hectic day and I need coffee!" complained Lorelai. "Already I've had people ask me if I'm okay on my way here and several times at the inn. Boy, the way news travels fast around here still surprises me." Lorelai sat down on her favorite stool at the counter and gave Luke a smile.

Luke grabbed a mug, poured some coffee and handed it to Lorelai. "I know. Why can't they just leave us alone? It's our business not theirs!"

"Yes it is!" agreed Lorelai. She took a sip of her coffee and instantly wrinkled her nose. "Luke, this is decaf! You know how I am when I go without coffee! I'm grumpy and can't think straight. Did you not hear the part I said about it being a hectic day? My mother called wanting to know if I had told you about the house and of course I had forgotten to tell you because we were barely talking and she's going to schedule a time for us to look at the house and..." She trailed off realizing she just told Luke about the house without explaining anything.

"What house?" he asked her confused getting a new mug and pouring regular coffee into it.

"My parents are going to buy us a house," she explained. "When my mother had that eye surgery the other day and I had to drive her around, we went to her real estate agent. The house is in Stars Hollow. It's a very nice house."

"Your parents are buying us a house?" he questioned, still confused.

"Yes. Technically it's not in Stars Hollow it's more on the border. So it's only five minutes to the diner and ten minutes to the inn. But Luke it's a beautiful house. It's got a pond! You can take our future sons fishing! And there are stables so we can get horses. I've always wanted a horse but never got one. My mother said that they were too dirty. She never even let me have lessons! Anyway, this house has five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a library, and a sun porch."

Luke studied her. He could see how excited she was about this house. "You want this house don't you?" he asked. It did sound nice from the description. And from the way Lorelai said future sons he could take fishing made him realize that she might be open to the idea of more than one kid.

"No," scoffed Lorelai. She hesitated. "Okay, yes, I do want this house. Luke, this house is perfect for us! It's got five bedrooms! April will have her own room when she stays with us. I don't know about Rory, though. She'll be graduating next spring and getting a job. We could always give her my house. She loves that house. But Luke, I really want this house."

Luke was silent a minut thinking. "Okay," he said. "We can go look at the house. Maybe I could talk to Taylor about letting the house be in Stars Hollow. And really an extra five minutes to the diner won't be that bad."

"No, it won't be," she agreed. "So are you sure?"

"Yeah," said Luke. "We'll go look at it. And besides, we'll need a bigger house anyway. I mean, with April in our lives now, there's no room in your house and if we have more kids there definitely won't be any room so a new house will be good. And if worse comes to worse we can build a house. I don't know how Taylor will feel about changing the boundaries so we'll still have a Stars Hollow address." He saw that she was getting excited about the idea of buying the house.

"Where's April?" asked Lorelai changing the subject.

"She's upstairs. She should be down soon," said Luke, right as April came down.

"Hey, Dad!" greeted April. She hadn't had time to say hi when she had arrived because her mother quickly sent her upstairs so she could talk to Luke. She knew what it was about. She kenw Luke had called and had asked if she could meet Lorelai. April had enjoyed meeting Lorelai at her birthday party a few weeks ago, but she had found it weird that she hadn't seen Lorelai since then. Until today. "Hi, Lorelai."

"Hi, April," Lorelai said to the teenager. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Why haven't I seen you since my party?" she asked Lorelai.

Lorelai hesitated and looked at Luke. Luke looked at his daughter. "The situation was complicated," he told his daughter.

"Why was it complicated? Lorelai's your fiance, I should be getting to know her and her daughter. Plus, I find it weird that you introduced me to Rory but not to Lorelai. Shouldn't it have been the other way around? And when are you two getting married anyways?" asked April. "Is it because Mom got mad when Lorelai planned most of my birthday party? Which by the way was an amazing party, Lorelai."

"Well, thank you. It helps that Rory was a teenager once," said Lorelai.

"Was it because of Mom?" April asked Luke again.

"Yeah, it was," admitted Luke. "But remember that your mother has good intentions when it comes to you. She was just scared that you'd like Lorelai more than her and would want to spend all your time with her instead of me."

"That's crazy!" exclaimed April. "That would never happen. You're my dad. I love spending time with you. And I like Lorelai so yeah, I'd like to get to know her better."

"April, it's fine now," said Luke. "You're mom is going to let you get to know Lorelai now. I've talked to her and she's agreed with me."

"Good, cause she was just being silly. I wouldn't like Lorelai more than her," said April, a little frustrated at her mother for being silly. "You know what I mean."

"Hey, April, if it's okay, why don't you come with me to the inn?" asked Lorelai. "I could show you around and show you the horses. Do you like horses?"

"Yeah, I like horses," said April. "Can I Dad?"

"Yeah, you can go with Lorelai. I don't mind." Luke turned to Lorelai. "I'll meet you at home at six. Well I'll be there ahead of time cooking dinner."

Lorelai said goodbye to Luke and gave him a kiss and then she and April were off to the inn. "How long have you known Dad?" April asked, wanting to get to know Lorelai better.

"Um, about ten years now," answered Lorelai as she and April walked to the inn. "We were friends for eight years when he finally asked me out."

"Finally?" asked April. "Why'd it take that long for him to ask you out?"

"I don't know really," admitted Lorelai. "I guess he was afraid of me saying no. Plus the timing never worked out. I was either dating someone, or engaged or breaking off said engagement or Rory's father was in town or Luke was dating someone. But I'm glad he did ask me out."

"You were engaged once?"

"Um, yeah. To Rory's teacher at Chilton. I actually broke it off a few days before the wedding. I think it was actually because I had feelings for your dad at the time. But then Christopher came back into the picture and then left just as quickly when his girlfriend got pregnant. Then Luke met Nicole and got married and I started dating my father's business partner without my parent's knowing and finally Luke and I got together."

"Dad has been married before?" asked April. She hadn't known that about him. She just always assumed he and Lorelai had always dated.

"Oh yeah, and I hated Nicole. She was too thin and so mean," admitted Lorelai. "Oh, here we are. This is my inn. The Dragonfly."

April turned in circles taking it all in. The scenery, the lawn and the stables. "Wow, it's beautiful. I love it. Are the horses in there?"

"Yeah, come on, I'll show them to you." Lorelai led April into the barn where Desdemona and Cletus were. The horses stuck their heads out ove the stalls when they came in. Desdemona was Lorelai's favorite and she went right to the horse and began rubbing Desdemona's soft nose. "This is Desdemona and that is Cletus. We only have two horses but we're thinking of getting a couple more."

"They're so beautiful!" exclaimed April reaching out to touch Cletus. "I've always wanted a horse, but Mom wouldn't let me. She says they're expensive and dirty."

"Well, if Luke and I let my parents buy us the house they've picked out for us, hopefully we can get some horses."

"Your parents are buying you and Dad a house?" asked April awed. "Are your parents rich?"

"Oh, you have no idea," said Lorelai as her cell phone started ringing. "Hold on. This might be Rory. Hello?"

"Lorelai, it's your mother," said Emily.

"Mom, why are you calling?"

"I've set up a time for you and Luke to look at the house. Be there tomorrow at ten. Your father and I will meet you and Luke at the house."

"Thank you. I gotta go. I'm showing April around the inn right now and can't talk."

"Who's April?" asked Emily.

"Luke's daughter. See you tomorrow at ten. Bye." After that Lorelai showed April the grounds and then gave her a tour of the inn.


	5. Chapter 5

"Who was that on the phone?" asked April as Lorelai gave her a tour of the inn and its grounds.

"That was my mother," answerd Lorelai.

"What'd she want?"

Lorelai sighed. She didn't enjoy talking about the life she grew up in and then ran away from at seventeen. "My parent's are buying a house."

"Really? Are they moving here?" asked April, curious to know more about Lorelai.

Lorelai laughed. "My parents? Move here? To them Stars Hollow is a town that they'd only stop in to ask for directions to some big city. They don't like small towns and they rarely visit me and Rory. Well, my mother insists on having her DAR luncheons here at the inn but my dad doesn't visit much. He's stopped by a couple times for insurance purposes but he hasn't visited the town since he came that one day a couple years ago." Lorelai paused for a minute to show April some of the rooms. "The house is actually for me and your dad. And of course you and Rory."

"So they're buying you and Dad a house? That's nice of them."

"I guess."

"They aren't that nice?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, my parent's can be nice. I'm probably closer to them now than I was at sixteen. Rory has a better relationship with my parent's than I do though."

"What happened when you were sixteen?" asked April. She knew that Lorelai had had Rory when she was young but didn't know the whole story.

"I got pregnant and had Rory," said Lorelai. "They expected me to marry Rory's father and were disappointed when I didn't. I finally left when I was seventeen when Rory was barely a year old. She was actually eight months old at the time."

"Oh, I didn't know that." April hesitated. "I mean, I knew you had Rory when you were young but that was all Dad told me."

Lorelai smiled. "Your Dad is a good man."

"Yes, he is," agreed April. "I'm glad you two have worked things out."

For the rest of the day April roamed around the inn taking in the books in the library and seeing the horses. When they got to Lorelai's house that evening they found Luke in the kitchen making dinner.

"Mmm, something smells good," commented Lorelai as she set down her things on the table. "What are we having?"

Luke turned around and smiled at them. "We're having lasagna and a salad and garlic bread."

"That sounds good, Dad," said April.

Lorelai started grabbing plates and utensils out of the cabinets. "Where's Rory? She should be here by now."

At that moment the front door opened. "Mom?" called Rory.

"In the kitchen!"

Rory turned the corner into the kitchen and saw Luke, her mom, and April getting ready for dinner. "Hey, Luke. Hi, April." Rory dropped her things on the kitchen floor and hugged her mom. "I've missed you!"

"But you just saw me the other day!" protested Lorelai.

"Well, I still missed you! Or am I not allowed to miss my mom after the age of six?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, you're allowed to miss Mommy as much as you want. And if you ever need me when you get lonely in that big world I'll come as quickly as I can!"

Rory laughed. "I doubt I'll need you to come wherever I'm reporting at once I graduate. That might seem weird to the other reporters. Plus, you and Luke will have a family, right?"

"Uh, yeah," said Lorelai.

April had been follwing the exchange between mother and daughter and was quite surprised how easy their relationship was. "You two seem to have a great relationship," she said.

Rory smiled at her mother. "Yeah, we do. Mom's my best friend."

"I wish my mom and I were like that. All we do is fight. Well not all the time, but we aren't close like you and Rory."

Lorelai smiled sympathetically. "Rory and I don't always get along either. That's normal. It just helps that I had when I was so young." Lorelai paused for a minute. "We've had our share of fights. "Right after I opened the inn Rory spent the summer in Europe with my mother and we hardly talked."

Rory nodded. "I was being stupid. I shouldn't have ran away like that. I wonder what Dean had thought then."

Lorelai didn't know what to say. She saw Luke look from her to Rory. He still didn't know all the details of that fateful summer. "Uh, he was pretty confused about why you had run off like that."

Rory nodded. "Of course. I mean I sleep with him and the next day I run off to Europe. That was stupid."

Luke was now putting two and two together. "Dinner's ready," he announced. He looked at Lorelai hoping she'd know that they'd be talking about all of that later tonight. She looked at him and shrugged her shoulders.

During dinner the four of them discussed wedding plans. Lorelai decided to get married in early September and have a small intimate wedding at the church with the reception in the town square. Luke agreed that it would be nice to have the wedding in town and he suggested having the rehearsal dinner at the inn and letting out of town guests stay there. Lorelai agreed and said she'd check available dates the next day. Rory and April would be bridesmaids and they decided they'd go dress shopping that weekend with Sookie.

That night when Luke and Lorelai were in bed, he turned to her and asked, "Okay, I wanna know what happened between Rory and Dean."

Lorelai sighed. "I knew you'd wanna know."

"What happened? I know Dean and his wife got divorced and you and Rory hardly talked that summer."

"Rory slept with Dean while he was still married to Lindsay."

"Why?" demanded Luke.

"I don't know why exactly but I can guess that Dean was still in love with Rory and apparently Rory still had feelings for Dean. She helped him cheat on his wife and that's not right," said Lorelai.

"No it's not. Maybe I should have let you and Rory go to his wedding."

"What do you mean?"

Luke sighed and told her about how Dean and a few of his friends had come into the diner the night before the wedding and how they had been drunk. When Dean started talking about Rory Luke had quickly got him upstairs and into the spare bed.

"So that's why you told Rory not to go to his wedding?" asked Lorelai when he was done telling the story.

"Yeah. I think if you and Rory had gone Dean wouldn't have gotten married. Maybe I did the wrong thing."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, you did the right thing. You were looking out for us, for Rory. I think if she had gone Dean would have either left Lindsay at the altar the moment he saw Rory or he would have told Lindsay in front of everyone that he couldn't marry her. He needed to figure out the hard way that marriage isn't as easy as it seems." She leaned over and kissed him. "Thank you for always looking out for me and Rory."

"You're welcome. I'm just glad you walked into my life so many years ago," he whispered, kissing her back.

"Do you ever wonder where we'd be right now if we had started dating then?" asked Lorelai.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I do," he admitted. "We'd probably already be married with a couple kids."

Lorelai snuggled up next to Luke. "I think about that all the time," she murmured closing her eyes. She yawned and then said, "I am so tired."

"It's been a long day," agreed Luke kissing the top of her head. "Go on to sleep."

Lorelai was out in just a few minutes. Luke watched her as she slept wondering how on earth he could have possibly gotten so lucky. In just a few months he'd be married to the woman of his dreams and finally starting a family. He wrapped his arm around Lorelai and fell asleep in minutes.


End file.
